We come this morning to the final section of this book of Hebrews that we've been working through over the past year or more. And we come to then the 13th chapter. Some have suggested that the 13th chapter of the book of Hebrews is not part of the original text, that it has been added by someone else at some later date, that it doesn't bear the same emphasis on theology and the same focus upon the new covenant that the rest of the book of Hebrews has. But those of you who have been walking with me through this book may remember that when we considered the 10th chapter and those verses from 19 through 25, we observed that that formed a link between two foci in the book of Hebrews, the theological focus of the first nine and a half chapters, and the more practical outworking of the implications of that theology in the remainder of the book. You'll remember that I pointed out that that link, that bridge between these two sections summarized in the first place all that had gone before and began to introduce that which was to follow. We observed then that the implications of the theology of the book of Hebrews is in the first place that we must live by faith, in the second place that we must persevere in hope, and in the third place that we must serve with love. You may also remember that I indicated that the 11th, 12th and 13th chapters unfolded or unpacked those themes in greater detail. So as everyone knows, the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews very much is focused on living by faith. Perhaps slightly less obvious is the truth that the twelfth chapter has a focus on persevering in hope. And rather than being an afterthought, some kind of additional instruction by a later author, the 13th chapter of the book of Hebrews unpacks the reality that we are to serve with love if we are united to Jesus Christ. The theology of Hebrews presents to us a Christ who is superior to everything and everyone else, particularly in terms of an approach to the living God. How can we worship God? How can we come near to the Living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, from whom we have been separated, alienated, have become enemies? How can we get close to Him when we live in sin and are cut off from Him? Well, the Old Testament Scriptures teaches that we can come close to God through the law that He has given. through the sacrificial systems that were mediated by the Levitical priesthood. But we've observed that that was purely symbolic. It was presented to the people for a time to prepare them for the final priest, for the full and perfect sacrifice. that would come through the Messiah, through the promised messenger of God, who was superior to every messenger that had come before, more glorious than any angelic being who may have communicated words from God, a more faithful servant to God than even Moses, the architect of Israel. a better priest than Aaron or any of his descendants, who mediated a more perfect covenant than that which had been given to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, which was intended primarily to demonstrate the invasiveness of sin into the individual and into the life of the community, so that they would see the utter hopelessness of humanity trying to approach God in his own strength. No, we cannot get to God. We cannot come close to God. through the law, for we will never obey the law perfectly, but one has come who has obeyed the law perfectly. One has come to stand as our representative. One has come who has given his life as a sacrifice for sin. One has come as the mediator to bring us to God. Therefore, brothers, Since we have this one, and since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of this one. Since we have this great priest over the house of God who is in the heavenly places at this moment interceding on our behalf, since these things are true, one of the implications? Live by faith, persevere in hope, serve with love. Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So there we have the context for the 13th chapter of the book of Hebrews. And over the next few weeks, we will work our way through this book and consider the service of love that we are to live by in the Christian church. And this morning, I want to focus on those first six verses of the 13th chapter that I read to you earlier. And to draw out five lessons from these six verses. We are to live a life of love. But what does that mean? Who are we to love? And how are we to love them? Well, in the first place, the writer of Hebrews tells us, you must love the brethren. Let brotherly love continue, he says in the first verse of the 13th chapter. Now let's remind ourselves of who it is that this writer is addressing in the first place. He's writing to Jewish converts to Christianity, people who have heard the preaching of the apostles, or of the elders of the churches, and have responded to it in faith. They have become convinced that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, and they have thrown in their lot with him and with his followers. We've observed, as we've worked our way through this book, that these Jewish converts to Christianity, as a result of their conversion, have become the focus of persecution. They're persecuted by their own Jewish brothers for believing that Jesus was the Messiah. They'd also become the focus of persecution from the Roman Empire, as Christians became a scapegoat for issues that arose within Rome. They had been persecuted severely. They had lost possessions. They had been made redundant. Some had been imprisoned. Many had been tortured, a few perhaps had even lost their lives. And in the midst of all of this persecution, these Jewish converts to Christianity are beginning to wonder, is it worth it? Is it worth being a Christian when it brings so much hardship, so much pain, so much grief? After all, they would argue, we worshipped God before. We took our sacrifices to the temple and the priests offered them on our behalf. We remembered the day of atonement and God promised to forgive our sins. Why can't we go back to that? We will then be accepted again by our Jewish brothers, and the focus of the persecution from the Roman Empire will be shifted from us because we're no longer Christians, but we can still worship God. And they're tempted to revert to Judaism from Christianity. We've observed that the focus then of the book of Hebrews is on convincing these people that there's nowhere to return to. It's all finished, it all culminated in Jesus Christ. And in a few short months or years, at the most, The Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed forever. The sacrificial system would come to an end. There would be no opportunity to worship God in the former ways according to the law of the Old Testament. It would in a very marked way be completely done away with. The writer of Hebrews is already saying, it's happened, it's finished, it's final in Jesus Christ. There is no other way to approach God. You can't go back. To go back to the old covenants, to the old systems, to the old rituals, to the old way of approaching God means to be cut off from God forever. Jesus is the better way, Jesus is the only way. But you see, in the midst of all of this, something else has been happening to these Jewish Christians. their love for one another has been marred. Because they're becoming self-obsessed, you see, they want comfort, they want peace, they want to be released from this life of suffering that has come to them as a result of becoming followers of Jesus Christ. And they're beginning to distance themselves from the way, from Christianity, which means distancing themselves from their brothers. And the writer of Hebrews then urges them in the first place, let brotherly love continue. The implication of all that Jesus Christ has done for you is that you are united together in the family of God. Don't live separate lives. Don't act as though you don't know one another. Don't behave in an uncaring way towards one another. In every situation, continually and consistently, let brotherly love continue. And of course we can go much further than that and we can say, let brotherly love continue when your brothers and sisters are giving you a hard time, when they irritate you, when they hurt you in one way or another, when they haven't drawn alongside you and helped you in the midst of your sufferings as you feel they ought to have done, when they haven't seen your need and come rushing to meet your need, let brotherly love continue. When there's irritation and hurt, don't let it quench the fire of love. Indeed, John himself uses even stronger language when he tells us that if we do not love our brother, we cannot love God. We cannot claim then to be united to Jesus Christ when there's enmity, when there's barriers, irritation, hard feeling between brother and brother, sister and sister in the body of Christ. Jesus himself said that the world will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. And Jesus himself gave us the greatest example of a man who loved the unlovely, stooped to help those who were outcasts from the rest of society. Let brotherly love continue. Embrace those who profess the name of Jesus Christ. Love them. Serve them. For Christ died for them. You must love the brethren. But the writer goes on and he says, also you must love the stranger. Verse two. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hospitality is, of course, a frequent theme in the New Testament. Leaders of the churches are expected to be hospitable people, but Christians in general are also urged to be hospitable. But this isn't something new in the New Testament. We find it also in the Old Testament. And indeed, this verse seems to have in mind particular instances of hospitality. Hospitality, we know, involves cost. To take someone, a stranger in particular, into your home means taking a certain risk? Will they behave themselves? Will they look after your home? Are they casing the joint? To prepare meals takes time. To provide food involves spending some money. to make conversation, for some of us, doesn't come naturally and we need to work at it. Hospitality, for most people, isn't something that comes easily. But it is a mark of those who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are worshippers of God. For in a sense, we can say that God is an hospitable God. He made this world so that we could live in it. He provides for us our food, our clothing, our shelter. He gives us the very breath that we breathe. And of course, in Jesus Christ, he is preparing for those who trust in Christ. an eternal home. God is a hospitable God, and we are to reflect that. Whatever the cost may be for us, and indeed, the hospitality of God towards us has been at incredible cost in Jesus Christ. But the passage here doesn't focus on the cost. It actually focuses on reward. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. And of course the allusion here is to Abraham and Lot in particular. We could think of others as well in the Old Testament, but particularly these two men. You'll remember how Abraham on one occasion was approached by three men. One of them we understand to have been a human form of the second person of the Trinity. The Son of God in the flesh, in what's called a theophany. The other two were angels. And so we see the outworking of this in reality. He entertained angels. And as he entertained them, and killed the fatted calf, and provided for them a meal, and entered into conversation with them, and took care of their physical needs, Abraham was blessed. Blessed with the renewal of that promise that God had made to him, that his wife, Sarah, would bear a son. a son of promise who would become a great nation and through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. Those three men were on their way to Sodom, where Lot lived. And there, when they arrived, or at least when the two angels arrived there, Lot opened his home to them. He provided them with nourishment, but he also provided them with protection when a mob in the city turned on them. And Lot himself, though he did not know who these people were, found great blessing in entertaining these strangers, for his life was preserved as a result of this hospitality. And the lesson then for us is that when we show hospitality, even to those we don't know, when we take those risks to open our homes to others and to nourish them and to converse with them, we ourselves are often incredibly blessed. blessed with our horizons expanded as we listen to conversation of people from different parts of the world. Our outlook on life is enriched as we talk to people from different backgrounds, with different circumstances. Our appreciation for God and his love and the richness of his mercy expands as we see him at work in the lives of others. And our fellowship is enriched as we meet with other Christians and enjoy their company. In many ways we can be blessed as we Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. We must love the stranger. But the writer goes further than that, and he says in the third place, you must love the persecuted. You must love the persecuted. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them. and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Remember the context. Persecuted Christians. And he's telling them, as they are being tempted to return to Judaism from Christianity, to distance themselves from their brothers, from strangers who may come into their cities and towns, and from the persecuted. The writer is saying, you must not do that. You must identify with the persecuted. Now, this is something that they had already done. Earlier, in the 10th chapter, he has said, recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, in other words, once they'd become Christians, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property. since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. This is how they had lived and the writer is reminding them this is how they must continue to live. Remember those in prison, don't neglect them now. Live with them, minister to them as though in prison with them, sharing in their suffering. You also are in the body. Now he's not referring here to the church. He's talking about their life. They live here and now in this world, he's saying. Here are these brothers of yours in prison who are being mistreated. Remember that you're in the body as well. Remember that any day this could be your lot, that you could be mistreated, that you could be imprisoned, how would you want the brothers in the church to treat you? You see, do unto others as you would have them do to you. This is the law of love, isn't it? And we must love the persecuted. The call is to identify with the suffering church. People look on the church as something to be scorned often. Are we willing to be scorned? People look on the church as something weak, as a crutch for those who are not emotionally strong. Are we willing to be considered weak by those? in our places of work, in our communities, even in our homes? Are we willing to take on the ridicule and mistreatment as we identify with those who are suffering? You must love the persecuted. Then the writer comes very close to home and he says in the fourth place, you must love your spouse. Let marriage be held in honour among all, he says, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Some suggest that the first part of that verse is an indication that there was a problem of diminishing the value of marriage. That it was better to be single. Of course, that's something that the Roman Catholic Church has taken to an extreme, so that the priests in the Roman Catholic Church are not allowed to marry. And so some have argued that this was beginning to happen in the first century. And so there's this exhortation, let marriage be held in honor among all. That it's valid and it's proper and it's appropriate for all. But the context of the verse suggests otherwise, that the whole idea here is the avoidance of sexual immorality and adultery. Those are the exact words that are used, of course, at the end of the verse. God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. You see, sexual immorality was rife in the first century. And these Jewish Christians scattered around in different places would have been confronted constantly with a view of sexuality that was warped. The expectation would be that people would not be faithful to their spouse, that single people would be sleeping around. More than that, that homosexuality was entirely acceptable. This is the context that these words are being spoken to. You see, these people are being called to be separate from the world, to be distinctive, to be loyal to God, to be obedient to his law. Love, pure love, true love, within the context of the home, was constantly under attack in that society, even as it is in our own society. And so the writer says, not only must you love the brethren, not only must you love the stranger, not only must you love the persecuted, you must love your spouse. You must be loyal to your spouse. And so we can say there are two aspects to this love of one's spouse. It's a love which gives of oneself to the other. You see, all of this sexual immorality and adultery is very self-centered. It's all about me, it's all about fulfilling my own desires, my own sexual urges. But real love looks to the other. Real love considers wife or husband and their needs and seeks to minister to their needs, gives of oneself to the spouse. But I think this verse is saying more than that. It's not just talking about those who are married. Let marriage be held in honour among all. And so those of you who are single, in this context, to love means saving oneself for your future spouse, if the Lord gives you one. To keep oneself from sexual immorality, to save yourself for that one to whom you can devote yourself, with whom you can become one flesh. We're going to be beginning a series in the book of Proverbs this evening, and as we work our way through that book, and particularly in the earlier chapters, we will see that there is much advice that is given to a son with regard to keeping himself from the immoral woman. You can, in a sense, even as a single person, love your spouse. You save yourself, you keep yourself pure from all kinds of sexual immorality until that day when you are united together with your husband or wife. And then in the final place, in verses five and six of this 13th chapter, in living a life of love, we are called to love God. You must love your God. Of course, the writer of Hebrews is talking about the living God, the right God, the true God. You must love God. Well, you say, where does it say that in verses five and six? keep your life from love of money, be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, so we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me? Well, the theme, of course, of the fifth verse is covetousness. Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have. The love of money, we're told, is the root of all kinds of evil. And the Apostle Paul reminds us that godliness with contentment is great gain. You see, the New Testament presents covetousness as idolatry. The love of something other than God. And so in a very real way, in these two verses, the writer is calling us to love God first and foremost. To trust in God, to serve God, whatever our circumstances, and remember the circumstances of these original readers were trying, testing, hard circumstances. And the writer is saying to them, don't love money, don't love the comforts that this world has to offer, don't love prosperity, love God. Devote yourselves to God, don't give yourselves to amassing wealth. Don't set yourselves the goal of providing a comfortable home and all the mod cons. Love God. Don't be tempted to compromise your profession of faith in order to live at peace and comfort in this life. Love God and be content whatever your circumstances. And here, of course, we have an echo of the Apostle Paul. I have learned, he said, to be content in any and every circumstance. I know what it is to live at ease and to be content then, but I also know what it is to be in need and to be content. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You must love your God. And in order to emphasize and express the context Of this, he quotes from two Old Testament passages, firstly from Joshua chapter 1 and verse 5, where Joshua is being instructed to lead the people into the Promised Land, and God says to him, I will never leave you or forsake you. Be courageous is the refrain that comes through in the first chapter of Joshua. And these people, these Jewish converts to Christianity needed to be courageous. You see, the contentment that the writer of Hebrews is urging is in the context of persecution. in the context of losing home, losing job, losing property, losing freedom, to be content in that context. For God is with you. Everything else may be stripped away from you, but God will never leave you nor forsake you. And so he then quotes from the 118th Psalm and the sixth verse, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me? What can man do? Man can take away your freedom and put you in prison. Man can take away your wealth, your home, your job. Man can beat you, torture you. Man can do all of that. But man cannot take away your inheritance if you're united to Jesus Christ. Man can drive you through all kinds of anguish and pain and ultimately take away your life. and bury you in the grave. But man cannot separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. A love which is prepared for you if you trust in him. A paradise for eternity. And what is the wealth of this world compared to that? What is the riches that this world has to offer compared to the riches of God in Christ? Love your God more than anything and everything else. And so, the writer is saying, Christians, however great your suffering is, do not turn back from following Christ in order to find relief, in order to find comfort. Rather, trust God. He will provide. Live a life of love, a life of love that reflects the love of Christ towards sinners. For he gave himself for us so that we can enter into the holy places of God by his blood which was shed. So that we can have access into the very presence of God through his flesh which he sacrificed. Let us live a life of love to the praise of our God. as we serve him in this world.